Diary of a Reporter: How coronavirus came is not important now. Staying safe should be the priority
Before you begin reading this piece, I have a small request. Please for a few moments, forget about politics and the politicians. You may have faith and obedience towards any political party or a leader there’s no harm in it. But today the piece which I am writing is about Covid-19 that is about a virus named ‘Corona’. The article is based on a true story. Trust me whatever I have written, there is no political intention. I believe no one gave birth to Corona. Maybe for the contagion of the virus, some cave-dwelling Chinese bats can be held responsible but I won’t be saying that either. Who failed to prevent the virus? Who should take the political blame? All these can be a topic of debate for the next election.
We are living in the time of coronavirus.
Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu in his famous book ‘The Art of War’ had written; to ascertain victory it is essential to know the enemy. Today we know that virus, ‘SARS-CoV2 or ‘Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus-2’ is the name of our enemy. The size of the virus is just 120 nanometer. The disease caused due to the virus is termed COVID-19.
There is no antidote to COVID-19 so far. Social media, however, is filled with numerous theories regarding cure and its origin.
I am at my home during this lockdown as cases in Delhi have seen a steep spike. Despite that shopping malls, temples are re-opening. The way people are going to offices by clinging on one another in trains and buses, looking at that on television I am getting stunned. Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi or Chennai - the scene was no different.
I found a book, by author Dr Michael Mosley, a physician from London. He did Science journalism with BBC for 35 years. About Science, he has written almost ten bestselling books. His recently published book ‘COVID 19: What do you need to know about the Coronavirus and the race for the Vaccine’. I read the 138 paged book and based on that I think we have a lot of wrong assumptions regarding the prevention against the virus. It is necessary to get rid of those assumptions.
Let’s say, Delhi’s famous Hanuman temple has been reopened but to impede the Corona Virus outbreak one has to visit from the far. Distribution and consumption of prasadam (blessed food) are prohibited. Outside this temple, I used to see beggars sitting in a row. On wheelchairs, there used to sit leprosy stricken or handicapped people. Now for Corona even they are prohibited to sit. But the question is how these poor beggars will survive. It is not even possible for the government to provide with compensation like America or London; India belongs to 135 crore people.
Even Benaras’ Dasaswamedh ghat is vacant. Where are the beggars who used to sit on the staircase? Or the widowed women in Vrindavan?
Might not be of Corona but they are reaching their deathbed because of economic crisis. Migrant labourers had to return home. The economy is in danger. We’re in lockdown from 25th March, prior to that other country of the world. When it was eased in foreign countries where the mortality rate had increased. In or country because of stringency, the mortality rate was also low. Now lockdown is being eased and the deaths are also increasing.
What will common people do? Lockdown is being removed; they must go to the offices. But not enough buses are there. People are going to offices by clinging to one another. Rush is maddening. Again for Corona social isolation is necessary; ‘Stay home, stay safe’; what else can be more confusing and doubtful than this?
Let me come to the context of the book. From this book, it was known that during the month of January from Shanghai a Chinese woman came to Munich in Germany. She did the inspection of a car instrument manufacturing factory. She stayed there for a few days, and there she fell sick. She thought maybe the sickness was because of jet lag. But after returning to Shanghai her sickness increases. The middle-aged woman caught the slight flu. After running tests it was found that the woman is Corona positive. Immediately Germany ran tests in the factory. Eight employees detected positive. They were sent to Munich hospital. After investigation, it was known that from thousands of years in some caves of the remote areas in South China there are plenty of horseshoe bats and from those bats, the virus came into being.
In the year 2013, from the cave of the bats arrived a perilous pathogen. The scientists from China in Wuhan’s virology laboratory were doing research on this virus. The scientists from Harvard had warned them it is risky to do experiments with the virus, as it can spread among the people. But in China, the experiments done on the bat coronavirus by the scientists under their head physician C Jhonglin said that genome of the coronavirus bats in Chinese labs was different. Therefore, there is no link with the disease and the bat-virus.
This is what China’s explanation is. This is what is unacceptable to Trump. But it is necessary to end the debate. The book also tells that coronavirus can only be infected when you come in contact with an infected person. You can meet hundred people throughout the day; from there corona will happen that is not the case. But of 100 people if one person is affected by the Coronavirus, then you may have Corona positive. Secondly, many times without symptoms the coronavirus may be in your body, without your knowledge.
In our society, people die of TB, pneumonia, Dengue or even by AIDS.
In order to protect own life, people have to be more cautious. How much distance is to be maintained to get milk from Mother Dairy, visit temples, or climb on the bus, that we must know.
In Kolkata, Corona Devi is being worshipped. The new goddess will kill corona, some people feel. Alas! In the year 2020, we will be subjected to superstitions.
Somebody said, on the reduction of weight immunity will be reduced. Therefore one can get Corona.
This is also a kind of superstition, ignorance. Rather as the writer doctor Michael Mosley said, reduce weight.
Today, it is important we keep ourselves safe. We boost immunity as Swami Ramdev teaches us every morning on India TV. Yoga has the power to boost immunity and keep us corona free.
